


my room smells like chemicals and tears

by Fer4l_G0at



Category: The Last Kids on Earth (Cartoon), The Last Kids on Earth Series - Max Brallier
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Bullying, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Implied Oc/Canon Chracther, M/M, Other, Quint is Sad thats it, Quint please calm down, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Violent Thoughts, but its a small part of the fic dont worry, i guess, intrusive thoughts about higher being, physical bullying, slightly Dirk Savage/Quint Baker if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:35:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27500893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fer4l_G0at/pseuds/Fer4l_G0at
Summary: Quint has a crush on Jack.Jack has a crush on June.but sometime timelines can't fulfill everyones wishes...
Relationships: Quint Baker & Jack Sullivan, Quint Baker/Jack Sullivan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	my room smells like chemicals and tears

**Author's Note:**

> This used to be a very old fic i abandoned but here we are  
> Au where June smells good  
> If you like this pls leave a comment  
> This work doesnt have any beta reading, so there might be typos that passed on from the document.
> 
> TW: Past bullying trauma, Violent intrusive thoughts, Quint being distressed in general.

Quint doesn’t remember when he started falling for Jack, maybe it was the first time they interacted, or when he would stay up until morning talking with him when they had sleepovers, he just couldn't take his blue eyes or soft hair out of his mind, he wanted to wrap his arms around him forever, tell him all his secrets and knowing he wouldn't get judged by him, Jack felt like his missing piece, he never doubted he saw him as more than a friend, friends don't make you feel butterflies in your stomach, they don't make you get flushed in the dead of the night because you thought of them, and you don't certainly dream about a life by their side until it's time to go.

Quint may have met Jack just a year ago, but everything that happened in one year produced feelings worth 6 lifetimes in Quint, that's just the way he felt things, he had strong feelings that spread through his head like roots of a tree.

Then Jack met June.

There was nothing wrong with June, but that seemed to be the main problem, there was nothing wrong with her… everything she did was perfect, her grades, her sports ability, everything. She was also pretty, thin hair that looked soft to the touch, and probably smelled good, she must have an excellent hygiene, because she smelled like lilacs deodorant and fresh cut grass from the hockey field, Quint hands smelled like strong chemicals and it had cuts in them, from several years of working with science and engineering.

Jack never stopped talking about June, thinking Quint would be happy he got his eye on someone, and Quint was! But, how happy can you be when the person who you wanted to be happy with doesn't reciprocate that wish? The nights of warm and soft feelings became cold and dull, no matter how many blankets he wrapped himself into the point of almost suffocating in a self-indulgent fever dream.  
June didn't even notice Jack, not even a little bit, but Jack admired her like he owed her his life. Quint was always there for him, even this crush he had, he didn't mean to sound evil, but he was glad that's what it all was, only a crush, June would probably never consider dating Jack, and had already rejected him countless of times, maybe someday Jack would realize that, and would come running to Quint´s arms, his blue eyes red from crying, messed up hair and sad face looking for the comfort he always had in stock for him, it was a matter of time he became indifferent towards her.

Then the goddamn apocalypse happened

The apocalypse only seemed to make Jack's obsession over June stronger, when they established at the tree house, everyday it was Jack waking him up to the birth of dawn, when the air was so cold it could hurt from just breathe it, to do long and exhausting searching patrol of June, which they didn't even knew was alive or not, for god sake Jack may be fantasizing about someone who's currently a rotting dead corpse on a dark alley, the thought sent shivers through Quint´s spine every time, Jack was really hyper focused on finding June so much that he would often put himself in danger only for finding not even a clue of where (most-likely-dead) June could be, it was like a dog chasing its tail endlessly...

Sometimes he thought Jack didn't even care about his well being anymore.

I mean, yeah! let's make the absolute douchebag Dirk Savage, aka the dude who… oh sorry i forgot for a second- tormented Quint’s life since he set a foot into school and once broke his wrist from simply grabbing it with a little bit too much force than usual- join our amazing survival group! I'm sure you don't care, do you Quint? of course you don't, you love me too much to even try to stop me!

Dirk’s addition to the group was hell on earth, everytime he opened his mouth to even yawn, Quint’s dopamine increased to unimaginable levels, he wanted to grab anything, the chairs, his heavy toolbox or the PlayStation3 under the TV and smash it on his head, it's the end of the world, most of authority is DEAD, who could stop him? the answer is Jack, he could, he would be so scared of Quint if he decided to make Dirk paid for all those years, and that was something he just couldn’t bear, Jack being terrified of him would reduce him to a babbling mess for the rest of his life.

He could just ignore how often Dirk activated his fight-or-flight mode and just curled his toes in result of his whole body tensing from the unwanted energy of that peculiar hormone.

He was always alert now, he didn’t trust Dirk one damn bit, he could strike on him every time, there was no reason he would, but Quint’s body didn’t care. The “clank” of his boots hitting the wooden floor made his breath shorten, his groans when he helped Jack lift anything made him remember he used to make that same sound when he dragged Quint through the school ground by his hair while calling him names, thinking he was so funny. Quint eventually learned on his own it hurted a lot more to resist than just walk the way he was being dragged to.

But oh god, when Dirk touched him, oh he hated that so much…

When Jack was there he would make Dirk take a step back, because even if he didn’t realize Quint’s crush, he bonded enough to know his body language and how he acted when he was paralized in fear.  
But when Jack was off to live his adventures, there was no one to make Dirk mind his own business.

Even if it was just his shoulder, it was like his nervous system knew exactly what size and how much force Dirk’s hand possessed, he wanted to punch his nose till’ it bled, but he also wanted to escape from the grip, it was like a deer deciding if he wanted to push it’s antlers into a threat or to just simply trot as far away as possible, it even made him tear up while he shaked.

When it happened the third time he just broke down on his work chair, it started as sobbing when Dirk’s hand was on his head, even if it was caressing his hair, it had startled Dirk, but he was shocked when Quint started muffling a scream into his hands and kicking his legs on an undefined pace to keep him away from his body, his face showed nothing but anger and suppressed fear, tears became bigger until they collapsed off his eyes and rolled down his face, no seeming to stop.

Do you know that thing when you’re sad or angry, your brain keeps reminding you of more things to be sad or angry about? it was definitely happening right now.

Quint started to cry, but he wasn’t only crying about Dirk’s touch, he was crying because June wasn’t just a little crush that would have pass, because Jack was in love with her and not him, because he felt selfish about wanting June to reject him so he could be with him, because he invited the person who psychologically tormented him, because he felt like Jack didn’t care anymore.

Dirk did the only thing that could make this situation worse, he slid his arms and brought Quint closer.

Quint felt like he was gonna pass out from only this experience, the million thoughts clogging his mind made his brain pulse against his skull and his body being in such a state of shock that it wouldn’t let him move nor even protest against the other, he just existed, paralized and being “comforted” by someone who he didn’t even wanted near him, he wanted Jack to be the one who surrounded him with his arms, but he simply wasn’t there. Life was indeed unfair, he just sobbed onto the green jacket and passed out from the emotional exhaust.

When he finally woke up it was dark outside, he must have been sleeping 5 or 6 hours, his head still hurt and he had no intentions on getting up, he sighed and rolled over on his bed, playing with the end of the sheet, he was so tired.

When June appeared it didn’t even feel real. The fact that Jack recognized her location because his obssesion whit her made him RECOGNIZE A STUPID RED HOODIE HANGING OFF THE SCHOOL WINDOW made his blood boil, not because June was alive, not because his only chance of being whit Jack died, he was mad at whatever higher being (if there was even one) that decided to make the life he wished for so out of his reach, according to science there is a timeline for every scenario, why couldn’t he be in the timeline where Jack was head over heels for him?, as if this higher identity didn’t think Quint didn’t deserved it, he did! he definitely knew he did! or did he…? he had his intelligence, a caring family (at least he hopes he still does) and was one of the few fortunate that survived the end of the world, maybe he already spent all his luck points, maybe he didn’t deserve Jack in reality. Jack was the one who deserved to be happy for once, he was being able to finally settle with other people, Quint shouldn’t be trying to take that away from him, or at least he thought that.

When Jack and June announced their relationship it didn’t struck Quint like his 5-months-ago self thought he would, he just fist bumped Jack for his success and smiled awkwardly, then he went to his room and looked at the ceiling with a blank expression. If he haven’t been forcing himself to suppress his crush on Jack he would be on a pretty much worse state, he would have teared up before Jack even finished the announcement, making a fool of himself in front of everyone, he would need to run back to the tree house to avoid the questions, he would have to silence his uncontrollable sobs with the pillow before Jack entered the room worried about his friend, Quint would have to make a lie, whatever, about his parents, about being worried Jack would leave his friends alone for June, never telling the truth, and getting a reassurance about something he didn’t even worried about.

But he was just lying there in his bed, in a somehow comfortable silence, the probably-not-birds chirping was the only sound that it could be heard, he didn’t feel sad, he didn’t feel happy, he just didn’t feel anything, he was enjoying and suffering the moment, like a neutral atom, with the same levels electrons and protons. Quint slowly accepted that he and Jack weren’t meant to be, his insides twisted, refusing to accept this new life route, like they wanted to still cling to the fantasy of him and Jack marrying or living together, all of those scenarios belonged to June now, she was a good girlfriend for Jack, they deserved each other, and there was nothing Quint could do, not now-not ever, to prevent that.

…

Two years passed, the radio survivors were found a long time ago, and today they finally arrived in Wakefield, so a big celebration would take place in the big school gym that had enough support all this time to not fall apart. 

The party was loud, Quint sometimes had to cover his ears to let them rest from the constant vibrations of the speaker, he was sitting in a corner, eyes looking through the room, Jack and June were dancing, Jack was smiling excited and June was laughing at how cute her boyfriend looked. The deepest part of Quint (according to him, about 3%) wished to daydream about the timeline where he and Jack were the ones dancing there, but those days died long ago, ashes of desires on fire which Quint had to put out with a bucket of cold water, but it had worked, he wasn’t sad because Jack didn’t even thought a future with him as a partner, he was happy because Jack had someone who could love him, that's all Quint asked for his friend.

Without warning, a hand was placed on his shoulder, it wasn’t Dirk’s, but even if it was he wouldn’t have tensed like before, him and Quint were actually getting along just fine, for once he liked having him around.

Quint looked over his shoulder to see a boy he didn’t recognize, he was smiling at him. He started a conversation that distracted Quint from focusing at Jack, the stranger was actually nice to talk with, they let out a energetic aura Quint was amused at, he kept talking with them for most of the party of whatever trivial subjects he had, the other one seemed interested on the little scientific facts Quint found to be cool, soon the party was dying out and the boy had to go, they gave Quint their number before leaving, Quint glanced down at the set of numbers on his screen, he felt like a new door was opening for him… maybe this timeline wasn’t so bad after all.

Quint heard Jack call his name behind him, they were gonna have an after-party with June and Dirk, which probably included games, dance off, maybe a movie and a game of Cards Against Humanity. Quint smiled and trot to Jack and the others, his best friend placed a arm around his shoulders and laughed, and Quint was happy, 

-END-

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah if you didn't know crushes that aren't mean to be can be forgotten about...  
> Yall better be grateful because one of the endings included Quint getting attacked by a monster and passing on ALONE  
> Lmao join the TLKOE discord: https://discord.gg/SVrx2ub  
> Imagine using one of your bullying experiences in a fic, could definitely be me  
> Tumblr: foggy-club


End file.
